Creating a template for black academic success
It was encouraging to read this story, Blacks in Fairfax, Montgomery Outdo U.S. Peers in AP, in the WAPO today. Black high school students in both Montgomery(MD) and Fairfax(VA) counties are excelling in AP (Advanced Placement) tests. This is what I wanted to hear after the Post conducted a survey showing that more black students in this area are going for AP classes than ever. Participation in this area has doubled in 10 years. Not only are they doing better than most black students in highly black populated areas, but they are doing much better.
What is the formula? I think its probably a combination of a lot of things. The article touches a little on this. High property-tax counties have more money for school supplies & teacher salaries. There are more 2-parent homes in these areas. Also, because of the success of blacks in this region, black children are able to see the rewards of hard work and an education in a reflection of themselves on a daily basis. These kids understand that excelling academically isn’t “white,” it’s just “smart.”
This success is admirable, but how much is it worth if its concentrated in one area? As the article says, the exact opposite is happening for black kids in other parts of the country. We need to put together a template of factors that have contributed to this outcome and share it; hell, mandate it if we have to. Instead of putting all our energy into maintaining Affirmative Action, wouldn’t it be better if we spent that energy here? We need to see keeping our kids focused on education as a battle we have to fight every day and we need all the ammunition we can get. www.politopics.com
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6 Responses to “Creating a template for black academic success”
Anyone who thinks that AP classes in Fairfax or Montgomery county are the province of a mostly white academic elite for the past decade or two does not know what they are talking about. AP Classes in most Fairfax County schools look like the Korean Students Association meeting more than a meeting of elite whites.
One of the causes of the Asian kids dominating the AP classes is that white are started avoiding them because to the competative nature of the classes.
SD – what a complete racist bigot you are. How difficult is it to type with a white sheet over your head?
Fairfax Virginia is a county that is 13% Asian-American (or Asian-immigrant). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairfax_County%2C_Virginia#Demographics
Yet, the all AP high school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is 33.6% Asian-American and only 55% white. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson_High_School_For_Science_and_Technology
ttp://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:13:2109734549620094::::P0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID:300
Now what is the racist part of pointing out the differences.
h
It’s not race; it’s culture. Some don’t like the notion of academic competition.
Superdestroyer said:
I’m no racist, Austin, so don’t even start making false charges about me when I state that what Superdestroyer wrote is true elsewhere, such as in Cupertino, CA (in the Santa Clara Valley, or “Silicon Valley” near San Jose), which was the subject of an article in the Wall Street Journal, where I learned of it originally.
“Whites aren’t quitting the schools because the schools are failing academically. Quite the contrary: Many white parents say they’re leaving because the schools are too academically driven and too narrowly invested in subjects such as math and science at the expense of liberal arts and extracurriculars like sports and other personal interests.
The two schools, put another way that parents rarely articulate so bluntly, are too Asian.”
Read it yourself if you are still in denial.
I’m sorry, I missed the part where we were talking about Asians, and not Blacks. That Asians tend to excel academically I thought was more of an established fact. Nothing to do with race, a great deal to do with culture. In S.F they have to keep the Asians from completely dominating the best high school with racial quotas and affirmative action (affirmative for the blacks and latinos that is, rather NEGATIVE for the Asians). In Spain, what other immigrants spend on flashy cell-phones and clothes the Asians spend and sacrifice to send their kids to private school.
As to the subject at hand, obviously it’s a difficult issue. I think that it’s hardly shocking that if you look at places rich in middle-class blacks, you’ll find them preforming at the same level as whites. There are no differences in base capabilities, so OF COURSE they do equally well. Give a child a two-parent home (or one parent VERY invested in education) in a safe neighborhood with an environment that thinks you’re better becoming a lawyer than a basketball player, and you’ll get a regular crop of college-bound kids.
I said it earlier, K: “It’s not race; it’s culture.”